mr. butterfield: thank you, mr. chairman. dr. woodcaulk, i, too, want to thank you for coming back again and giving your testimony today. i am very interested in the potential public health benefits of reforming the o.t.c. medicine regulations. your testimony today highlighted several examples of safety concerns with o.t.c. medicines and how they were handled by your agency. how frequently, how frequently does the f.d.a. encounter adverse events with o.t.c. medicines? dr. woodcock: i would say fairly frequently. to rise to a serious level, maybe once every several years. mr. butterfield: frequently or infrequently? dr. woodcock: fairly frequently. given what they are and the exposure of the population to them but once perhaps every two years we're facing an issue that we would like to get out rapidly to the public to notify them and our hands are really tied and we have to use this guidance process. mr. butterfield: all right. two other examples you highlighted in your written testimony related to pediatric issues with certain med

mr. bilirakis: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. chairman, you did an outstanding job with this bill. i rise today to support of the self-drive act which will improve transportation safety, stimulate economic growth, and ensure we're embracing the full potential of technology advances n the automotive industry with respect to autonomous vehicles. i'm especially proud that my bill, the access act, has been included in this important legislative package which ensures the self-driving cars are developed with seniors and the underserved in mind. approximately 20% of floridians are over the age of 65. many struggle with simple tasks, most maybe that we take for granted. such as getting to work, going to the doctor, taking a trip to the grocery store, or across-town to visit family. self-driving cars hold the power to safely put seniors and our constituents back in the driver's seat of their lives. providing them with greater independence and mobility. i urge all my colleagues to support the passage of this very important bill. i yield bac

thank you, mr. chairman. >> judge hastings, thank you so much for your comments. the person to address that would be mr. cull ber son. mr. cull ber son is very aware of -- and by the way, the country is now also of the two other storms that are progressing towards potentially your home state and other east coast states. and i believe you saw us address that this morning with a little bit more money than what we said we'd do just three days ago. so it does -- a day does matter. no, ma'am does matter. and now that we know what we know, you're going to get a chance to ask those questions. i think the opportunity to advice mr. cull better son gives him a chance to be prepared too. judge, thank you very much. okay. panel, we have spent a good bit of time yesterday and last night. we are interested in a number of issues, but your presentation about the way you see the world and what you've done, your product to support that, is why you're here today. and quite honestly, we respect and appreciate the hard w

what did you mean by that? [laughter] mr. wilder: as you pointed out, ,eing the grandson of slaves one would never expect that person to run to be the governor of a state, sit in the same seat that patrick henry occupied, thomas jefferson occupied. to the extent that those tribunals were overcome, it is a testament to show what the people of virginia had gone through relative to refurbishing and making certain that the image did not continue. so i like to think does what i would like to say is that the new dominion, rather than the .ld dominion ima product of that. i represent what the people of irginia have brought forth -- am a product of that. i represent what the people of virginia have brought forth. host: so have things changed? mr. wilder: yes, things have changed. that internalis --lage alliance -- villages villages is the place of freedom. you cannot address -- v the place of freedom. there are things you have to work at. what did take place in charlottesville was such as -- now we look back. some of that could have b

mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate the recognition and i want to begin by commending chairman cole, his staff, and the appropriations committee for the fine work that they have done. s we're looking at the labor and hessian bill we're looking at $50 billion for 2018. my amendment would cut an additional 1% out of that number. i think it's important to commend the work that they have done over the past couple of years. if you go back and look at the appropriations numbers in 2016 they were at 163.65 billion. 2017, down to $162.9 -- down to $162,985 billion. and this year at $156 billion. i think that work is to be commended. the leadership in this house, the chairman, chairman cole, and the work that they are doing is getting us on the right path. and it is important that as we, as members of congress, to do our job, it is important that we engage the rank and file employees that are there in these various agencies. over at the department of education and at labor and h.h.s. and make certain that they are sa

mr. davis: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. davis: mr. speaker, my mother used to say that right is right if nobody's right. and wrong is wrong if everybody's wrong. h.r. 2792 is wrong. it is cruel. and it is discriminatory. i strongly oppose this republican effort to strip low-income seniors and those with severe disabilities of supplemental security income benefits or s.s.i. i join in opposition with over 110 civil rights disability and agent advocates who have warned that h.r. 2792's harsh cuts age, iscriminate based on race, ethnicity, ability, and income and will further criminalize poverty. oppose the ly age, majority's decision to condition the re-authorization of our successful home visiting program oppose the majority's decision to condition the re-authorization of our successful home visiting program on this bill's harm to the elderly and infirmed. s.s.i. is only available to or le who are elderly oppose te severely

thank you, mr. chair. >> thank you, i now recognize the ranking member, mr. ewis from georgia. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. ms. wilson, thank you for being here today. i understand that you're the head of the national tax office at your firm. what type of issues are taxpayers trying to resolve when they come to your firm? >> great questions. >> small issue? big issues? global issues? >> that is the unique thing about our firm. i would say they run the gamut. so they're all the way from small, $1,000 penalty issues up to very large exams. we have a very unique client base. and we target mid-sized business, which, by the nature of that we have all range of issues that we see. recently, the significant issues i see are around penalties and penalty appeal. we have a lot of clients or clients in our base that have been onslaughted with information return penalties. and so we try to help them manage through that process. >> in your experience, what are the biggest challenges you and your clients experience in resolving tax issues with the agency? >> that's

thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator. >> thank you, mr. chairman. in arkansas, one in four children struggles with hunger, and yet they're not receiving access to the programs they need. dr. -- did i get that right? you're probably like me and answer to anything. your program benefits children. do you see interaction between snap and the school meals and how are these interaction programs working on the ground? >> yes, as i mentioned in my testimony, i think the performance standards you all put in last time relating snap and the national school lunch program have done a tremendous amount of good making sure children have access to both sets of programs. and i would really encourage you to do the same with whick this time, because participation with whick is really low, while 85% of infants that are eligible to participate with whick, that falls down by age 4. and establishing some performance standards there would really help these vulnerable children. >> very good. can you expand on the online snap pilot program you're grocery store is participati

thank you, mr. chairman. chairman alexander: thank you, smart murray. senator collins. senator collins: governor leavitt thank you for your testimony and the guideline of national standards state solutions. i think that's a great motto for the bill that we're crafting. we know from the experience in some states, including the state of maine, that a high risk or reinsurance pool can help drive down the cost of premiums. and in looking at the costs, if the federal government were to play a role, has the range of costs. but if you're going to cover everyone all individual market policies that could be as high as $16.7 billion. on the on the other hand, if you took the alaska approach, it could be far less. we have had some conversations with financial association of insurance commissioners and it's in the neighborhood of $3 billion. my question to you is this. give the savings that reinsurance can provide on the premium side, do you think that it would make sense for the federal government, for a brief period of

mr. kildee: thank you, mr. chair. i had you a like to yield one minute to -- i'd like to yield one minute to the ranking member of the committee on education and work force, a champion for this and others, the gentleman from virginia, mr. scott. the chair: the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. scott: mr. chairman, i rise in support of this amendment which would increase funding for youth employment activities under the work force investment and opportunity act. as has been stated, about five million of our nation's youth are both out of school and out of work, so we have a choice. do we invest to help our youth get on a good path or do we pay considerably more later? we have to choose to invest now. this includes increased funding for youth employment activities that help out-of-school and out-of-work youth. helps fund summer jobs, on-the-job training, apresentishships and others. we will pay later in incarceration, teen pregnancy and public assistance. if we make investments now, we make investments in our co

mr. ross: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. speaker. for over 50 years, for 50 years, the only game in town for flood insurance has been the federal government through the national flood insurance program. that means for over 50 year, if you want flood insurance your best bet is to go to the federal government, which by the way, especially after these two successive storms that have just hit texas and florida, is going to be over $30 billion in debt. -- in debt. if we don't do something to save the taxpayers of this program that cannot actuarially support itself, we are doing a total disservice to our constituency and to our country. so what is part of the underlying bill that this rule will allow is the market parity act that will allow consumers to have a choice between the existing flood insurance program, which is significantly in debt, or to have the private sector bring in their property, flood insurance program, ensure those -- to insure those risks. in florida in 2004, we had successive hurricanes. that came through my district.

thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'll make my questions quick because i have to go vote before we close that vote out. i was a small business owner for 15 to 16 years and i will tell you that the question that seems to be unanswered about senator toomey did a very good job of delineating the importance of from a competitive perspective lower rates equals a better competitive position against your folks in other countries. a lower rate also will encourage economic activity in a way that can be scored dynamically. the question is can we score dynamically accurately. the fact of the matter is there's no question the dynamic impact will be measurable, which means it will be positive. another very important factor is the complexity of the code and the amount of time the small business owners spend preparing for the dreaded season of march 15th, august 15th, and the time the extensions run out. can you speak for a few minutes on the costs born by u.s. small businesses under the current code and what that means long-term for

senator kennedy: thank you, mr. chairman. gentlemen, you guys remind me so much of law school. mr. amar: uh-oh. senator kennedy: and why i sat on the back row. i listened with a lot of interest. you all are obviously experts on the law. i am assuming you have opinions about the efficacy of the implementation and execution of that law as well. what current job do you think congress has done so far in investigating the alleged activity of russia in our lection? mr. amar: in my written testimony -- thank you, senator -- i suggest although technically the house of representatives is a body that initiates impeachments, it's by its very nature a very partisan body. because you have single member -- senator kennedy: unlike the senate? mr. amar: senate is where america has to come together because most members of the house of representatives have districts that lean far left or far right and only two years away at most from a primary where they would have to be worried about their base. senator kennedy: what kind of job do you think congress has done so far? mr. amar: the senate is better s

thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. i ask unanimous consent that written opening statements entered into the record. i would like to introduce our panel. first we have mr. allen larsson, the council to the inspector general. we have mr. gomez who serves director of natural resources and environment for the government accountability office. thank you for being here today and providing testimony. we look forward to the opportunity to discuss open and unimplemented recommendations. you aware the committee is holding an -- do you have objection to testimony under oath? either advised by council during testimony? in that case please rise and raise your right hand. swear the testimony you are about to give is the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth? both answered in the affirmative and now under oath. five minute summary of written statement. we begin with you mr. larsson. >> could you turn your microphone on, please? thank you. pull it close to you. >> thank you. good morning, again, chairman murphy, members of the s

mr. todd: thank you. i am tried to keep you on time. mr. llespie: this plan is a tax cut for the rich at the extent of the working class. you look no further than kansas to see exactly what a plan such as this would do, it almost bankrupted them. they had to turn on and raise taxes. it puts schools in jeopardy. five-day week a to a four-day week school. we need to invest in virginia. when we invest in virginia, we can be and other state. we have parities, such as transportation. i know have been attacked by my opponent by supporting a bipartisan plan of 2013, bringing billions of dollars into transportation. we have education needs. getting paidare $7,500 less than the national average. it is unacceptable. we have a health care issue, we have the kassie granville, i am sure you support -- we have the , i amy graham bill,, sure you support. there are consequences to limited resources. we have to be responsible and make sure we do not bankrupt the commonwealth of virginia. something mentioned earlier, our aaa bond rating is sacred in the commo

reporter: thank you, mr. speaker. conservative leaders from the freedom caucus have said that you had told them at one point that you would not put an immigration package or bill on the floor unless it has the support of the majority of your majority. is that an accurate portrayal and does that -- mr. ryan: i've been saying what i've said all along as well. we're not going to bring a solution to the floor that does not have the support of president trump. and if we have the support of president trump on the kinds of things i just said, getting security and enforcement along with the solution here, that i believe will get a majority of our members. because our members support president trump. thank you very much, everybody. appreciate it. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> ahead of leaving for a tour of the storm damage in florida, president trump released a se

mr. stone who will make statement and then answer your questions. thank you. mr. stone: first of all, i wanted to give you an opportunity, all, to see fine english tailoring. >> [inaudible]. mr. stone: certainly. we had a very frank exchange. i answered all of the questions. i made the case that the accusation that i knew about john podesta's email hack in advance was false. that i knew about the content and source of the wikileaks disclosures regarding hillary clinton was false. and that my exchange with goosfer aiming to be 2.0when viewed through the content and timing was benign and innocuous. i had an opportunity to correct a number of the things that members of the committee had said about me. which they seem to take in. and i think this was productive. i expressed my view that i'm aware of no evidence whatsoever of collusion by the russian state or anyone in the trump campaign or anyone associated with donald trump and i reiterated my view that in my opinion donald trump has the potential to be both a truly great and transformative president. i'd be happy to

so my question the you, mr. spear, and certainly you, mr. clark, as well, what are you doing internally to prepare for possible driver displacement as a result of highly automated trucks? >> quite frankly, we don't view it as a displacement issue because we don't believe level five, no steering wheel, no pedals is imminent. what we're really focused on is driver assist technologies, not driverless. and if that's acceptable in this committee, then we're really talking about how do we enable drivers to be safer, more productive, their equipment more environmentally friendly, less congestion. these are all measurable returns that our fleets will invest in and are good for drivers as well. we'd like them to be less fatigued, better rested. if technology can play a role in that, that's good for the entire motoring public. but in terms of driver displacement, we already have a 50,000 driver shortage as it stands. if that trend continues, it will double in nine years. we have to hire over 960,000 employees over the next decade. into this industry. s

mrs. walorski: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise today to congratulate indiana's state senator luke kinly on his retirement and thank him for the many years he dedicated to fellow hoosiers from balancing the budget to reforming state taxes, he's worked for 25 years to mrs. walorski: thank you. empowd strengthen indiana's economy. efforts to tant enhance our schools, roads, and businesses, local institutions, and more. senator kinly's commitment to hoosiers and tireless efforts to bring our state's economy into the 21st century helped transform indiana and improve hoosiers' lives. i'm grateful for senator kinly's leadership and his keen understanding of the efforts to enhance our schools, roads, and businesses, hoosier values so important to our way of life. i have no doubt his impact on our state will last far into the future. mr. speaker, i ask my colleagues to join me in wishing indiana state senator luke kinly the absolute best as he embarks on this next chapter in life. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for wha

mr. green: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. speaker. i also thank the ranking member for her kind words. thank the chairperson for bringing this to the floor, both of them. mr. speaker, this is a seminal moment in time. a moment in time that can shape the rest of our time. this is an opportunity for those of us who contend that we're our brother's keeper to, in fact, become our brother's keeper. you see you can't be your brother's keeper without keeping your brother. his is a chance to be your brother's keeper. this is a chance for the unity that we express when we're before the cameras to manifest itself in the votes that we cast here in congress. this is a seminal moment in time. this is a moment in time for us to brother's keeper. care not onlyo live in the suites of life but also those who dwell in the streets of life. those who live on benches. those who sleep on the bridges. it's an opportunity for us to cast a vote that will send aid, send assistance to those in houston, texas, and all across the area that's been designated -- de

mr. walz: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. walz: i rise today in support of h.r. 3819. i want to thank the gentleman from florida for his hard work on this as the entire did. h.r. 3819, as the gentleman said, makes sure that some of the vital programs we have in place to provide for our veterans continue past the end of the fiscal year and continue to help our veterans. included in this bill are provisions related to health care benefits, homeless veterans and other related issues. i'm pleased to support programs for caregivers, childcare for certain veterans receiving health care and the pilot program on counseling and retreat settings for women veterans newly separated from service. it extends the authority related to rehabilitation and vocational benefits to members of our armed services with severe injuries or illnesses. homeless veteran resbegation program. homeless veterans with children in providing housing assistance. al

i ask you, mr. speaker, how many folks have you heard standing up for my constituents who have -- whose families have been separated because they've been standing in line to get here for more than a year? how many folks have stood up for them? not one. what about those families that have been standing in line for two years, mr. speaker? because i've got them in my district too. what about those families who have been separated for three years, standing in line, trying to get to america the right way, who's standing up for them? i don't hear those calls on the floor of the house because i've got them in my district too. four years, mr. speaker. five years, mr. speaker. six years, mr. speaker. if you want to bring your adult child in from mexico, you had to file in the 1990's for their number to be coming up today. that's crazy. crazy. where's the conversation about reforming the system that got us here to begin with? i applaud my friends for trying to solve the symptom. i beg my friends to work with m

thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you for calling this very important hearing. as the chairman mentioned, i'm in this seat today because senator nelson is back home in his great state of florida helping to begin the very long recovery effort after the devastating hurricane irma and certainly our thoughts and prayers are with senator nelson as well as with all of the people of the state of florida. as the chairman mentioned, last friday he and i released a discussion draft of our self-driving car legislation which is the result of months of collaborative effort, countless meetings with stakeholders across the spectrum of effort and further bipartisan work from senator nelson. i want to thank chairman thune and his staff for the many long hours and effort that have gone into this bipartisan draft. this legislation will provide the first ever changes in federal law targeted at ushering in a new era of mobility and transportation innovation. the bill will facilitate the safe development and adoption of

mrs. lowey: thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate my colleague who is always there to speak out against injustice and help respond to the tremendous challenges we have. i was as shocked as you have been on the recent actions in burma and mir and march and i look to addressing that from you. and the isis-controlled areas are truly hoff i haveic especially for the women and children that have been most vulnerable. victims is as important as food, shelter and water. i look forward to continuing to work with you to address these issues, because we have to speak out and act and respond to these horrors. and i thank you very much. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment. mr. hastings: mr. chairman, i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. mr. rogers: i yield back and urge a no vote. the chair: the the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from florida. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chai

thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator. >> thank you, mr. chairman. in arkansas, one in four children struggles with hunger, and yet they're not receiving access to the programs they need. dr. -- did i get that right? you're probably like me and answer to anything. your program benefits children. do you see interaction between snap and the school meals and how are these interaction programs working on the ground? >> yes, as i mentioned in my testimony, i think the performance standards you all put in last time relating snap and the national school lunch program have done a tremendous amount of good making sure children have access to both sets of programs. and i would really encourage you to do the same with whick this time, because participation with whick is really low, while 85% of infants that are eligible to participate with whick, that falls down by age 4. and establishing some performance standards there would really help these vulnerable children. >> very good. can you expand on the online snap pilot program you're grocery store is participati

. >> well, thank you, mr. chairman and that continues to be a great plethser to work with you and i want to start out echoing the comments you just made about first recognizing the heart breaking devastation hurricanes harvey and irma have caused in the past. they underscore the critical need for disastrous systems for farmers and our families and i want to recommend secretary perdue for his quick action to provide food assistance and flex n ability for those in the path of the storm so having enough to eat is the least of their worries. our families deserve a reliable saflt net in times of need, whether it's making disaster snap available during the hurricane or insuring they can weather the storm of job loss during a recession, nutrition assistance programess are vital to rebuilding after disaster strikes. the great recession hit our country like a force of nature, causing too many americans to lose their homes and jobs. for those who faced unexpected unumploemnt or underemployment the supplemental nutrition

mr. costello for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for your testimony here today. mr. gomez, i'd like to start with you. your written testimony here mentions that in 2015 the epa ordered approximately $3.9 billion or nearly half of its budget to grants to state and local governments for important projects such as repairing aging wood or infrastructure, preventing pollution, improving air qualitying with and cleaning up hazardous waste sites. however, gao found weaknesses in the ability to manage these grants officially and effectively. my question is would you please elaborate on the weaknesses gao identified in epa's grant management procedures. second, how have these grant management inefficiencies and weaknesses impacted grant recipients? i think that's an important question. and then finally, have these inefficiencies contributed to the wasting of grant money or made it more difficult for recipients to use grant funding for its intended purposes? >> sure. thank you for those questions. so we've done a body of work on grants management and that particular report, wha

the other of you three mostly agree with mr. spear? all right. thank you, mr. airman. >> thank you, senator inhofe. >> thanks to you and senator peters for all your work on this issue, and thank you to the panelists for being here today. there is no doubt that automated vehicles have tremendous potential to save lives and reduce the nearly 4,000 deaths caused by large truck accidents each year and the over 30,000 annual vehicle fatalities on our nation's highways, but what's less clear to me and i think what you're hearing some questions about is how we can guard against potential harms of this technology from in and out of state actors who are looking to harm us. i don't want to trade one set of harms for another and i tell you i spent some of my time visiting summer camps in new hampshire and i was visiting one a couple of weeks ago for a group of adolescents and they wanted to know what a senator does, and i talked about the work about this committee and said that this committee had jurisdiction for automotive vehicles and described what the future technology

mr. walden: thank you, mr. speaker. and i had you a now like to yield three minutes to the author of this very important legislation, important member of our committee, the gentleman from new york, mr. collins. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. collins: i want to thank the chairman. mr. speaker, i come before you in support of my bill h.r. 931, the firefighter cancer registry act. 16 years ago yesterday on september 11, 2001, we witnessed a horrible tragedy that will leave an impression on generations of americans forever. through this tragedy we witnessed the heroic actions of america's brave first responders working and volunteering in the days and weeks that followed. we lost many first responders during those attacks of 9/11, and we continue to lose more every year from ongoing health effects. all firefighters across our nation sacrifice their health every day to face the dangers of smoke inhalation and toxic chemicals. these dangers cannot be entirely avoided, which is why this bill, h.r. 931

we thank you mr. president and your entire team, fema, everything you are doing to deploy every resource in government to help those affected and most of all, we thank you for acknowledging that ultimately, it is god who is the source of our unity as americans. thank you for a showing this proclamation. >> thank you mr. president. >> people of all faith backgrounds know that prayer changes things. a great work is done by anyone who calls a nation to prayer. we want to give you thanks for calling us to prayer because no matter where we are, across whatever spectrum, we know that prayer changes things, it unites the nation. so, thank you sir for calling our nation and uniting us. >> i would just like to add that in our community, we have been praying, we started a 40 day fast for the healing of america and the help for texas from god. i am not diminishing your office but an appeal to a higher source, we have to heaven, he will empower us, strengthen you and give you wisdom. amen in unison and ] >> you kn

mr. pascrell: thank you. mr. speaker, as i said there are currently 18 evidence-based home visiting models. and also there's no added thing to the budget. there's no extra currency i'm asking for. i'd ask the sponsor of the bill what would he tell this woman from passaic county in new jersey, one of many examples that i have. what would his answer be to that woman? thank you, mr. speaker. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from nebraska. mr. smith: i thank you, mr. chairman. again i urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment as well as support the underlying bill. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new jersey. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. mr. pascrell: i want a vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new jersey

thank you mr. chair. chair.k you mr. i want to express my appreciation to both senators alexander and senator murray 40 these hearings. health care is the most important expenditure anyone makes. there is not one that is more important. and i think the stakes are existential for us to get this right. frankly the last eight months the american public has been assaulted with words like rep eal, implode, sabotage. this government is scaring people to death about the most important expenditure they are going to make in their life. about theiscussion future of the affordable care act with the administration, we will not upset the apple called what you are having discussion, people still will have been concerned, but the discussion repeal conversation with with an administration rooting for implosion has gotten people worried. you are holding these hearings so that congress can step up and be an article one branch again, not an article 2.5 branch reacting to something the president was, but in article one branch. as important

thank you. mr. wright, i am so impressed with what you have been doing with the market and also, very impressed that you're talking about combining that with help and reaching out, the connection between nutrition, health outcomes are so important and really appreciate the fact that you're really leading in that effort. could you talk a little bit more about the economic impact that the incentive programs have for independent grocers like yours? >> well, certainly in our business, snap is almost 40% of our retail sales. and so, it certainly creates jobs and it's very helpful to us from the economic standpoint. some of the other things that snap program brings to the table is just reaching and we've seen examples of reaching people that are desperately in need. there certainly is a business out of that, but by the same time, just the other benefits for our community, we still see a lot of elderly and people. but it is an economic driver. i saw some statistics in 2015, for every $1 in snap business, i

thank you, mr. chairman. >> judge hastings, thank you so much for your comments. the person to address that would be mr. culverson. mr. culverson is very aware of, and by the way the country is aware of the other two storms progressing towards potentially your home state and other east coast states, and we, i believe, you saw us address that this morning with a little bit more money than what we said we'd do just three days ago. so it does -- a day does matter, knowledge does matter and now that we know what we know you'll get a chance to ask that question. i think the opportunity to advise mr. culverson gives him a chance to be prepared, too. judge, thank you very much. okay. panel, we have spent a good bit of time yesterday and last night. we are interested in a number of issues and your presentation about the way you see the world and the product and you support that is why you're here today and quite honestly i respect the hard work that you do day in and k day out. people recognize that we're up here long hours and late hours. you have been, too. and your prod

i agree with you mr. hall. do you agree with that mr. spear, that we need mandatory robust protections that are built in as rules of the road going forward? >> i think that's where we're headed. it's a first step towards something much more robust. this allege legislation that -- remarkable first step. we know this is a reality. it's not just cars and trucks. it's a cross the board. >> that's why i introduced the legislation the spy car act that directs nitsa. finally on the issue of privacy, obviously since they are computers on wheels there's going to be a vast amount of information about all americans that's going to be gathered as they are moving around this country. do you think that we should be ensuring that this information which is gathered by the auto companies or by others about all of our individual habits, where we go, what we do, all the information that can be gathered as these computers are being used. >> i really don't know that i'm qualified to answer that question. i think that perhaps that information may be out there

mr. president, it's an honor to have you here. >> mr. president, it's great to see you again, i want to say that under your leadership the alliance between america and israel has never been stronger, never been deeper, i can say this in ways that people see, and ways that they don't see, so i want to thank you for that. equally, i look forward to discussing with you how we can address together what you rightly call the terrible nuclear deal with iran and how to roll back iran's growing aggression in the region especially in syria, as you said, we can discuss the ways we can seize the opportunity between israel and the arab world, i think these things go together. and we look forward to talking about how we can advance, finally we're going to be speaking tomorrow at the u.n. and i want to say that under president trump, america's position towards israel and the u.n. has been unequivocal, it's strong, it's got both clarity and conviction and i want to thank you on behalf of the people of israel, and israel's many friends around the world. t

thank you, mr. chairman. i want to say to our texas friends and all of the other members of the house that what we witnessed was what was happening in texas was deeply hurtful to all of us, and i don't think i've ever seen such bravery. i saw nobody crying, weeping, wailing why me. the thing that worried me, though, and i was just talking to pete about it, the children, even the smallest ones and 2 and 3 years old and not a whimper out of them. they came in on those boats and rescues and just as strong as they could be. almost too strong. i'm a little bit worrieded about it because there was a lot of ptsd from children left over from katrina, and we have to be careful whatever we have to do to survive this that happened. my hope, too, and obviously we want to be as generous as we can be. we want to do what we need to do, but my hope would be that texas would take the opportunity with houston as they rebuild that beautiful city that they would leave the flood plains alone. there was no question, i think, i know

let me ask you mr. bartlett, arthur laffer said quote if you cut that corporate rate to 50% it will pay for itself many times over, this will bring in $1.5 trillion net by itself. that was the message at the white house yesterday from the secretary of the treasury, the president and the vice president. they certainly emphasized the unknown and that is they assured us that economic growth would return that money to the treasury time and time again. do you want to comment on that? >> that's just complete and total nonsense. quite frankly i think arthur whom i've known for 40 years was just lying. he plays for team republican. he says whatever he thinks the party wants him to say at that particular moment in time. i mean i'm more than happy to look at any serious study that claims to find higher growth from tax cuts or tax reform. but let me remind the committee of something very, very basic that gets lost in the discussion which is that the trend rate of economic growth is a function of two things only. gr